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Month: October 2013

Byrd Elementary School has invited us all to its first “Byrd Farmers Market” event on November 19, 2013 from 5:30 – 7:00 in the Multi-purpose Room of the school. The theme at Byrd Elementary School this year is Growing Great Citizens-Locally and Globally. Students, individually or with their classes, are creating products to sell at the Farmers Market to raise money for the Goochland Free Clinic and Family Services.

Several of the products are created using plants grown in the school’s outdoor learning lab. Teachers have emphasized that we can help our own community by producing products to be sold. Prices will be reasonable!

All Goochland County Public Schools participated in the Great Southeast Shakeout last Thursday, in a coordinated effort to join the entire nation in boosting earthquake response readiness in schools. Using resources provided by the Earthquake Country Alliance, our schools implemented drills designed to prepare students and staff members for the possible environmental impacts of an earthquake.

Each school did an exemplary job with the drill and we look forward to debriefing as a leadership to make any necessary improvements to our readiness procedures.

Dr. Geyer and I had the opportunity to talk with WCVE’s John Ogle, promoting the upcoming Minority Student Achievement forum and discussing the way we see this important conversation dovetailing into our strategic planning process.

We are humbled to help spread the word of this opportunity to support a GCPS family currently facing some personal adversity. Community members have teamed up with with All American Softball and ishosting the “1st Annual Homerun Derby” to benefit this family.

The GYAA player is a student in our middle school and has demonstrated tremendous success both on and off the field.

Please see these remarks from a member of the organizing community group:

This past Spring the student’s father was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer at the young age of 41. As you can imagine, this was such heartbreaking news for our “softball family” and lies heavily on each one of us. He went through his 1st round of chemo during All Stars this past Summer but still managed to to never skip a beat to help with whatever was needed let alone to miss one of the tournament games. Shortly after the State Tournament, he went in for his 1st scan after he had received his 1st round of chemo only to learn this nasty disease had progressed.

Michael is currently receiving a 2nd, stronger round of chemo that seems to be taking a toll on him this go around. But again, doesn’t skip a beat when it comes to watching his “Lady Bug” in one of her travel tournaments this Fall.

Goochland is very excited to be teaming up with Kerri Cobb with All American Softball, to be hosting their “1st Annual Homerun Derby” to benefit the Sims family!

We are honored to host legendary retired Marine Corps Colonel, Wesley L. Fox, to be our guest speaker for the inauguration ceremony of the Goochland High School Marine Corps JRROTC Program. Colonel Fox resides in Blacksburg and received the Medal of Honor for heroic actions and service during the Vietnam War. He is the author of Marine Rifleman, a first-hand account of his experiences serving the military, and spent eight years post-retirement serving the Virginia Tech community as deputy commandant of cadets.

The event will be held September 10, 2014 and will officially commemorate the establishment of this excellent opportunity for Goochland students.

Colonel Wesley L. Fox will speak at Goochland High School September 10, 2014

This announcement is far in advance of the ceremony, but we wanted to be sure the community was aware. We will continue to communicate more details regarding this event.

Colonel Fox received the Medal of Honor in 1971.

We offer special thanks to GCPS CTE Director, Bruce Watson, and Colonel Joe Waddle and the area Marine Corps League (James M. Slay Detachment) and American Legion Post 215, Goochland, VA for working diligently to see this opportunity come to fruition in such a fitting way!

Our schools have seen tremendous achievement results in the area of writing; moreover, students, teachers, and the entire school-community take particular pride in our outcomes in writing, as it is the only state SOL (Standards of Learning) assessment that measures thinking, analysis, and application beyond traditional multiple choice testing.

I’m delighted to share that the new science equipment, provided by the school board’s deliberate appointment of funds in this regard during last year’s budget development, is bringing lab work to life at Goochland Middle School. Thank you to GMS teacher Carolyn Elliott for providing these snapshots of the engaging work being accomplished with the new materials.

We would like to join Mrs. Yearout-Patton, GCPS Teacher of the Year, in thanking some very special volunteers for taking time to support our seniors at Goochland High School. Members of the BOS, Registrar, Electoral Board, and Treasurer took time to meet with the seniors last week to discuss local government. These lessons and opportunities will encourage students to be engaged citizens and perhaps become future civic leaders.
What a testament to our supportive local government and county leadership. Thank you for this continued partnership.

Last Friday Randolph Elementary School celebrated its first official Woman to Woman mentoring program activity. Women from the community volunteered to work with students and build relationships that will provide a foundation for years of future success.

We are thrilled to see formal mentoring programs expanded to four of our schools. Those interested in mentoring students are encouraged to contact the school principal.